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The evaluation of the quality of music is binary, divided into critical acclaim and popular appeal. Despite the fact that the popular scene often vastly differs from the critically-acclaimed landscape, most music listeners value critical opinion. The reason for the disparity between what is popular and what is liked by critics is due to the fact that people select music based on two main influences: music as a product in vacuo and music as a product in society. Within the latter influence, people further determine their tastes based on three common characteristics: what everyone else listens to; what no one listens to; and what a specific, culturally defined group listens to. Indeed, the selection of music based on the influences of what other people are listening to is not a comment on the merit of that music, but people frequently disparage a song, album, or band based on another factor, one which does relate to the critical quality of music.
This common detraction from music is that it is simple. One who commits the simplicity fallacy of music would justify his aversion to a particular band by claiming that the band’s music is simplistic. This reasoning is fallacious because—even in a world in which musical evaluation can be considered somewhat objective—complexity is not necessary (and, in fact, is not at all) a criterion in the determination of music of high quality. Even music critics—whose jobs are largely to make a series of incorrect assumptions about what makes music good—rarely commit the fallacy of condemning a song for being insufficiently complex. This fallacy is instead committed by ordinary listeners attempting to employ the tools of music criticism to justify their elitist tastes in music.
Some characteristics of music are almost universally appreciated, but music is, nonetheless, wholly subjective. Music critics do perform useful functions such as identifying albums that would otherwise flounder in eternal unpopularity. Perhaps the best function a music critic is suited for, however, would be examining music to detect which aspects make it either popular or unpopular, as opposed to analyzing music and peremptorily concluding which music is good, regardless of popular opinion. If a selection of ten songs were played for every human on the earth, the overall most popular song would be the best; no matter how well trained a critic is in music theory and analysis, at no point does his opinion become more authoritative on identifying the quality of music than that of any given person. A song that appeals to every single non-critic listener but is hated by every critic is by all means a better song than the one that is loved by every critic and hated by everyone else.
The closest music can get to objective quality is being as widely liked as possible. This claim does not imply, though, that the song on the top of the billboards at any moment in time is the best song or that the best-selling album of all time is the best album ever produced. These statements are not necessarily true because of that second influence which comes from the nature of how music reflects socially upon an individual; very often will an individual buy an album because his or her friends like it or because it is something of a status symbol. Furthermore, not every band gets equal exposure to the public, thus the most popular band is not the best liked. One advantage critics have over non-critic music listeners is that they have generally been exposed to a wider base of music. This advantage is not to be confused with the assumption that a critic is inherently more adept at identifying the quality of music.
Under perfect conditions, popular opinion might democratically decide the merit of different pieces of music. In realistic conditions, the merit of music is completely personal. While one listener may adore complex music, this affinity does not apply to everyone else. In most cases, moreover, those who commit the simplicity fallacy do not, in actuality, like music because of its complexity or dislike it because of its simplicity. If the stultiloquent pretext of musical sophistication is to be exercised, the axis of criticism should at least be honest, if not somewhat valid.